Children and hobbyists have long enjoyed creative toys which have allowed the individual to construct various items of interest such as boxes, small houses, bridges, airplanes, boats, and the like. Examples of such products have included the Erector™ Set, and various LEGO™ kits that are provided at various levels of complexity. In the so-called Erector™ products, these toys have included a series of plates and bars with holes in them which are subsequently joined together with nuts and a corresponding bolt. Other creative toys have included somewhat similar building units, but have further used wooden pegs to join the building units together.
The prior art is replete with numerous examples of similar creative toys. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,886, a toy construction system having reusable distensible joining members is shown. In this particular patent, a releasable fastener is useful in an Erector™ type toy and which further has a toy like device which appears as a riveting device and which utilizes a bullet-shaped, soft distensible rubber piece which may pass through adjoining members thereby fastening them together. This is best understood by reference to FIG. 3, of that patent. In addition to the foregoing, U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,691 to Bach relates to a toy building set with interconnecting means and which is of the form typical of the LEGO™ type toys. In this reference, block-shaped building elements are disclosed, and which at least have one passageway formed therein. Further, elements are provided that have a tenon that can be introduced into mating tubular openings in a snap-like effect thereby joining the box-like elements together.
While these various creative toys and toy construction systems have operated with a great deal of success, various shortcomings have detracted from their usefulness. For example, in the LEGO™ type building toys and/or systems, various kits are provided that will allow a hobbyist, or child to create various objects of interest such as helicopters, airplanes, boats and the like. However, many kits typically do not allow the child or hobbyist to make more than a limited number of designated objects from that provided for in the kit. Another additional shortcoming in these kits, which have been supplied heretofore, is the construction elements that are utilized with same are often releasably affixed, one relative to the others at predetermined fixed angles. Additionally, many of the construction elements are not readily rotatable, one relative to the other. Moreover, in these same toys or kits, the amount of mechanical functionality that can be imparted to same is often extremely limited. More specifically, many of these previous products fall apart when moderate force is applied to same. This might be occasioned when an individual plays with one of these kits.
While construction systems such as the Erector™ type sets allow for the positioning of construction elements in various angular orientations, they do not readily adapt themselves to allow of the construction elements supplied to freely rotate one about the other.
Therefore, a construction system which avoids the shortcomings attendant with the prior art devices and practices utilized heretofore is the subject matter of the present application.